Village Thrift Shop of Antioch to celebrate a decade

Jennifer Price, owner of The Village Thrift Shop in Antioch, will celebrate the 10th anniversary of her business alongside manager Lisa Guerts in June. The Village Thrift Shop, which touts community partnerships and green initiatives, is at 910 Main St. (Jason Arndt/Hi-Liter).

By Jessica Lamberty Correspondent

In June, The Village Thrift Shop on Main Street in Antioch marks its 10th anniversary, and will look to celebrate the milestone through a variety of specials and sales.

Owner Jennifer Price started the business with the community in mind.

“We want to be an asset to the community and help out people in need,” said Price, whose business is at 910 Main St. “I felt Antioch needed a thrift shop.”

As a way to thank the community and to celebrate this mark of success for the business, The Village Thrift Shop will provide free balloons for kids, fresh baked cookies and numerous sales throughout the week.

The 50th customer each day will also receive their entire purchase free of charge.

After opening in 2008, the business has since flourished and relocated from its original location at 921 Main Street after outgrowing the facility.

Since relocating, the new building has changed inventory, layout and structure, but has not undergone renovations.

Manager Lisa Geurts, who joined the team six years ago, has bolstered business operations.

The shop sells a variety of clothing, books and furniture, and is most busy during the fall.

“Historically, our busiest time of year is October,” Price said. She credits the influx of business to Halloween and the change of seasons, but the shop remains busy year round.

Community partnerships
While The Village Thrift Shop continues to flourish, it has formed partnerships with other community organizations, like Open Arms Mission, One Hope United, The Traveling Closet and the Lake and McHenry County Veterans.

Through these partnerships, the Antioch business has helped hundreds of families, domestic violence victims and children in foster care through their free voucher system.

Price, meanwhile, is grateful for the donations the business has received.

Without community contributions, according to Price, The Village Thrift Shop’s success would not be possible.

“We are only as good as our community and the support we get from them,” Price said. “I couldn’t have done it without the community.”

Green initiative
The Village Thrift Shop, which accepts most items for resale, also makes conscientious decisions about the environment.

Since its opening, The Village Thrift Shop’s main objective is to cut down waste at area landfills, and looks for ways to reduce its carbon footprint through green initiatives.

For items that cannot be sold or donated, they are distributed to outside organizations who recycle them.

“We try to stay green and keep as much as we can out of the landfills,” Price said.

Items such as textiles are donated to pet shelters. Scrap metal is recycled.

“[The business] has kind of taken on a life of its own,” Price said. “We just hope to be around another 10 years.”

The Village Thrift Shop operates 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

For more information, visit www.thevillagethriftshop.com or call 847-395-5002.